Monday, October 19, 2009

Sengoku Basara 2 is the sequel to Sengoku Basara (known in English as Devil Kings), released in Japan on July 27, 2006 for the PlayStation 2. A revision with additional features named Sengoku Basara 2 Heroes was released in November 29, 2007. The game is also on Nintendo's console, Wii.

Playable charactersMaeda KeijiVoiced by Masakazu MoritaHis element is windAdopted nephew of Maeda Toshiie and Matsu. Keiji is what people call a happy-go-lucky man. He enjoys festivals, as well as pulling pranks at Toshiie. Despite his demeanor towards his step-family, he loves them though shows resentment at them due to their objection to his lifestyle. Accompanying him is a small monkey named Yumekichi. His weapon is a ludicrously oversized nodachi. Despite its length, he can use it one-handed. He also uses its sheath, but rather than carry it around he throws it in to the sky, having it come down just when he needs to use it. He receives a three stage gaiden in Sengoku Basara 2 Heroes, where he used to be friends with Toyotomi Hideyoshi, but loses him due to Hideyoshi's lust for power.Toyotomi HideyoshiVoiced by Ryōtarō OkiayuHis element is light.Second of the Three Unifiers. Unlike his real and Samurai Warriors counterparts, he is depicted as a giant man, whose ambition is to rule all of Japan and form it into a formidable, prospering nation, which causes him to declare Nobunaga as a source of chaos that must be annihilated. Even though he has good intentions, he is drunk with power and will use any means, no matter how ruthless, to achieve it (though he is still charismatic and caring to his subordinates, unlike Motonari). With just his bare hands, he can destroy an entire platoon in just seconds. His weapons are his hands, which can be strengthened with magical arm guards.Sengoku Basara 2 Heroes reveals that he used to be friends with Keiji and was sane (joining Keiji in making pranks here and there), before the hunger for power (fueled by being humiliated by Matsunaga Hisahide) corrupted him into the man he is in Sengoku Basara 2. It's even hinted that he killed his historical wife in Keiji's story to achieve more power.Takenaka HanbēVoiced by Akira IshidaHis element is darkness.Toyotomi Hideyoshi's strategist. He is intelligent and extremely loyal to Hideyoshi. Around his enemies, he is narcissistic, cold and very cruel. Given the chance, he can wipe them all out by swinging his weapon. His favorite methods of assassination are back-stabbing his opponents at his weapon's reach and snaring his opponents when they are not looking. Despite his physique, he suffers from tuberculosis. He is somewhat similar to Zorro in style and look (the face mask). His weapon is a whipsword.Miyamoto MusashiVoiced by Daisuke NamikawaHe is elementless.A master swordsman who is portrayed as a wild man itching for a fight to prove that he is the strongest man in Japan. Players can encounter him at random on Unification mode. Earning 50+ points in Unification mode unlocks Musashi as playable in Unification, Free and Arena modes only. He however is limited to only two moves. Wields an Eku and a wooden sword. During battle, he constantly taunts the opponent, calling them "Baka" (or "stupid"), which does damage when his spit touches his enemy.Katakura KojūrōVoiced by Toshiyuki MorikawaHis element is lightning.Date Masamune's strategist and bodyguard in battle. He seems to agree with Masamune at some points in battle. Wields a katana and wakizashi set. He is also noted to be the only left-handed character in the game. He is playable in Sengoku Basara 2 Heroes, where he gains a 'super' mode by charging his power and revamps his moveset to resemble more into a yakuza swordsman.His story revolves around him chasing Matsunaga Hisahide after the latter took the majority of Date retainers captive, and sapped Masamune's will to fight by stealing his six swords. Eventually during his adventure, his power exceeds causing him to awaken his 'super' mode.Azai NagamasaVoiced by Kōji TsujitaniHis element is light.A former ally of Oda Nobunaga, now rebelling against him. He is a man fighting for justice and vows to destroy anybody who creates chaos, namely Nobunaga. Wields a long sword and a folding buckler. His fighting style and mannerism are similar to that of a typical superhero, preferably the Metal Hero Series. He's also often seen roughly telling Oichi to shut up or stop crying, only to shyly declare his love (sometimes with flowers), making him a male tsundere. He is playable in Sengoku Basara 2 Heroes.His story revolves around ridding Japan of the chaos, preferably Nobunaga, and his relationship with Oichi which started out with love, then turn to hatred and eventually leads back to loving her again. Nagamasa's story can be looked at a tokusatsu point-of-view due to certain elements of the genre present.OichiVoiced by Mamiko NotoHer element is darkness.The wife of Azai Nagamasa and sister of Oda Nobunaga. She is depicted as a depressed woman who worries about Nagamasa and the friction between him and Nobunaga. While considered innocent looking, she also has a dark side which can become dangerous once she snaps. She wields a double bladed naginata, which she can separate and chainlink to its bar. She is playable in Sengoku Basara 2 Heroes.Her story, considered to be the most tragic, revolves around her witnessing Nagamasa being killed by Nobunaga in Anegawa and was forced to fight on Nobunaga's name, slowly losing her sanity due to her the loss of her husband and her brother's ruthless methods. In the end, she succumbs to her own dark powers, which leads her to kill his retainers (Nōhime and Ranmaru) and eventually Nobunaga himself. After killing her brother in Honnō-ji, Oichi regains her sanity for a little while, broke down in tears for her atrocity to her family and clan, before the temple collapses; she's presumed dead afterwards. Oichi is the only character with a unique ending sequence; her image song, "Nemure Hi no Hana" sung by Mamiko Noto, her own seiyuu.Fūma Kotarō(He has no voice actor due to being portrayed as a silent man who never talks)His element is wind.A ninja serving Hōjō Ujimasa. He is depicted as a man who never talks, but takes action immediately. Like Kasuga and Sarutobi Sasuke, he can create duplicates of himself. His weapons are giant shuriken. He is playable in Sengoku Basara 2 Heroes, where he uses a pair of ninjatō instead. Unlike Kasuga and Sasuke who need bird familiars to glide down, Kotarō can glide straightforward with just his body and can further glide when paired with his air attack.His gaiden in Heroes revolves around his elimination of Hideyoshi and Hanbē, with little help from Kasuga and Sasuke. After killing Hideyoshi, Kotarō has no use for the two anymore and so ends up defeating them.Honganji KennyoVoiced by Shinpachi TsujiHis element is light.The Chief Abbot of the Ikkō sect. He is depicted as a greedy man who thinks of nothing but money; in fact he believes that everything can be bought with money, especially victory. His fortress is surrounded with chests and pots full of gold coins. In order to win battles, he resorts to bribing his enemies in order to join him. Wields a monk's staff in Takeda Shingen's style. He is playable in Sengoku Basara 2 Heroes where additionally he thinks he's a macho man due to his moveset.